Mike Hosking: Mongrel Mob meth programme exposed for what it is

 

Opposition player of the weekend goes to Dr Shane Reti, who has exposed the Mongrel Mob meth $2.75 million for what it is.

It's a soft Labour Party sop surrounded by no checks, balances, and certainly no rigour around expenditure of other people's money. 

This is the programme personally signed off by the Prime Minister because among other things, according to her, of its success rate.

Because Reti has got some medical background and a brain he asked a few pertinent questions.

Questions that should been stock standard of any government programme involving taxpayers' money.

How much testing was done on those before they entered the programme? 

In other words, how many were on meth? 

For how long? 

And how bad? 

Answer, no testing. 

No testing for a drug programme was done at the start. 

So how did they know what they were dealing with? 

They didn’t.

What about the interventions those taking part had already been involved in? 

What effect had they had? 

We don't know.

So did the programme work? 

Or was it the other interventions that were working? 

And who was on meth? 

And who wasn’t?

The urine testing done during the programme; what independent lab was used? 

There wasn’t one.

So how do we know whether they were really off meth, if in fact they were ever on it? 

And was it the programme or the other interventions doing the work?

The fact none of this was water tight is at the source of the incompetence of this government.  

They don’t ask questions, they're not curious, they're not hard workers, they don't dig, they don’t demand, and they don’t aspire. 

They are box tickers. 

If you can do something by signing a bit of paper, they are into it.

If it requires research, inquiry, or any sort of hard work forget it. 

It's a top-down problem. 

The Prime Minister is not demanding on quality. 

She's Facebook, one liners, PR, and smiles. 

She's a spokesperson, not a grafter.

Reti, sadly, has confirmed what most of us suspected. 

This was a sop and a waste of money with no rigour behind the decision.

It's sloppy government.

By the way, if this has been news to you this morning, it's because the media failed, in my humble view, to give it the prominent attention it deserved over the weekend. 

You might want to ask yourself why.

Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings.